Dave Bakke: Mysterious note leads to dig for treasure

Wednesday

Sep 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMSep 30, 2009 at 2:58 PM

Patty Henken thought she was just buying an antique chair at an auction in New Berlin. She got the chair, all right -- and a hunt for buried treasure in the bargain. While refurbishing the chair, Patty discovered a slip of paper with a mysterious message that led her to Springfield in search of a mysterious chest.

Dave Bakke

Patty Henken thought she was just buying an antique chair at an auction in New Berlin. She got the chair, all right -- and a hunt for buried treasure in the bargain.

While refurbishing the chair, Patty discovered a slip of paper folded in half inside the horsehair- and straw-stuffed cushion. “Finders Keepers!” was typed on the front. She opened the paper to find a key and a mysterious message.

“This DEXTER key #50644T will unlock a lead chest …” it began. The message went on to describe the place where the chest supposedly was buried and what was inside -- eight $20 gold pieces, six $10 gold pieces, five $5 gold pieces, three $2.50 gold pieces and two $1 gold pieces.

The note was signed “Chauncey Wolcott.”

Patty, who lives with her husband, Buck, in Mount Sterling, came to Springfield looking for 1028 N. Fifth Street, the house where the treasure was said to be. There is no such house. But there used to be.

Dennis Chrans lives next to where the mystery house was located. He owns what is now a vacant lot on the site. Patty showed him the note. He was intrigued. Who wouldn’t be?

Dennis searched the abstract for his property and found no record of a Chauncey Wolcott ever having owned it. Wolcott also doesn’t turn up in old Springfield city directories.

Internet searches turned up someone by that name who is, or was, on the state’s list of unclaimed funds to the tune of $150. I found a Lt. Wolcott Chauncey, who was instrumental in the Battle of Sackett’s Harbor during the War of 1812.

My guess it’s not the name of the person who typed the note. The note is not dated, but the mention of a metal detector is a clue that it wasn’t that long ago.

After seeing the note, Dennis and his wife, Sharon, agreed to let their vacant lot be dug up. On Sunday afternoon, a crowd of about 25 friends and family members gathered, along with a backhoe and laborers and operators from Locals 477 and 956. Ron Williams of Ace Contracting of Illinois brought in some of the equipment.

It was a regular party. People brought drinks and snacks. Some set up lawn chairs near the dig site and enjoyed cheerleading.

“I’ve been skeptical from the beginning,” Dennis said. But there was an undercurrent of excitement as the backhoe bit into the ground.

“I think there’s a date and a story in the box,” Patty said. “I think the part about the gold coins was just to get someone to dig it up. I hope he doesn’t leave me baffled the rest of my life. I just decided I wasn’t going to let this sit around my house and have another day to think about it. This has taken up most of my summer.”

Patty carried with her a photograph of her son, Jeff Peacock. Jeff was 25 when he died, five years ago, in an automobile accident. She said he would have had enjoyed the mystery.

Becky Barlow, Patty’s co-worker at the Mount Sterling Post Office, brought their magic wand. It’s a girl’s toy from Dollar General. They keep it behind the counter at the post office. When a particularly grouchy customer leaves, they “wand” him or her to change their attitude. It has become a general spreader of good vibes.

On Sunday, the women wanded the backhoe, the ground and anything else they could, just for extra luck.

The conventional wisdom was that Chauncey Wolcott couldn’t have dug 12 feet down with a shovel. It made more sense if he had thrown the lead chest (no dimensions were given) into a cistern or well that was 12 feet deep. So when they dug into a cistern right away, spirits rose. But there was nothing there but bricks, bottles and dirt.

Another hole was started. That one uncovered a well, and people got excited again. This time, they dug 14 feet down. A sump pump was lowered into the hole to clear the water. Metal detectors were used down there and everywhere, including on the piles of dirt scooped from the holes. There was nothing but bricks, some interesting old bottles and a really big log. How the log got down there is another mystery, but it will have to take second place in this story.

The magic wand must have been off its game on Sunday. The backhoe broke down (clogged filter) for about 90 minutes. They got it going again to cheers and dug and sifted through dirt and clay and mud until the sun went down.

No lead chest. No gold coins. But, hey, it was an unusual way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

“The backhoe couldn’t go deep enough into the well,” Patty said on Monday. “(Chauncey) didn’t know how deep that well was.”

The story isn’t quite over. They plan on getting what Patty called a “ground-penetrating radar” machine that will look underground for the lead chest.

Was someone pulling a hoax on whoever would find the note?

Was Fifth Street moved or widened, throwing off the measurements?

Was the vacant lot topped with fill dirt so that what was 12 feet down is now deeper?

Hope might be fading, but Patty isn’t giving up. Not while the mystery is still alive and well.

State Journal-Register columnist Dave Bakke can be reached at (217) 788-1541 or dave.bakke@sj-r.com.